Goodwin’s Consumer Finance Insights (CFI) monitors, reports, and analyzes the latest legal news, activity, and developments impacting the consumer finance industry. Consumer financial services companies—whether banks, fintechs, nonbank and alternative lenders, payment providers, or industry vendors or service providers, like digital advertisers and lead generators—face a constantly shifting and maturing regulatory and legal landscape. Growing from the Financial Crisis, today more than any time in history the consumer finance industry must confront a robust and growing body of industry legislation and regulation, all while under the microscope of sophisticated enforcers, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and state regulators and attorneys general. It is critical for in-house and outside corporate counsel, compliance departments, and business executives to stay informed and aware of these developments to navigate institutional, reputational, and legal risks. Goodwin’s CFI is a singular source of the most recent industry news and latest enforcement activity for you to leverage. Here, you will find links to original enforcement documents, enforcement activity statistics, and reports, analysis, and commentary from Goodwin’s leading Consumer Financial Services Litigation and Enforcement practitioners.

Massachusetts Court Holds Notice of TCPA Exclusions Sufficient to Avoid TCPA Violation

On January 7, 2022, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued a decision concerning whether two insurance companies provided sufficient and timely notice to its Insured regarding the exclusion of coverage for Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations.  In Addison Automatics, Inc. v. The Netherlands Insurance Co., Case No. 20-P-225, the Appeals…

Read More

CFPB Settles With Chicago-Based Payment Processer Over Services Provided to Telemarketers

On January 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had agreed to a settlement with a payment processing company, resolving allegations that the company assisted third parties in profiting from fraudulent services and products.  The proposed stipulated judgment, if entered by the court, will resolve allegations that the company was processing…

Read More

Student Loan Servicer Reaches $8 Million Agreement with DOJ to Resolve False Claims Allegations

On January 14, ​2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ​anno​un​ced​ that it reached an agreement ​with a student loan servicer that had serviced loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.  The agreement resolves allegations that the loan servicer submitted false claims to the Department of Education (DOE) in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA)​….

Read More

39 State Attorneys General Reach $1.85 Billion Settlement With Student Loan Servicer

On January 13, thirty-nine state Attorneys General announced that they had reached a settlement with a national student loan servicer.  The settlement resolves allegations that, since 2009, the servicer had been steering borrowers into higher-cost, longer-term forbearance arrangements.  The Attorneys General alleged the practices increased borrower loan balances and violated various provisions of each state’s laws. …

Read More

Second Circuit Disagrees With Third Circuit TCPA Ruling Regarding Unsolicited Advertisements

On January 6, 2021, the Second Circuit issued an order criticizing and declining to adopt a Third Circuit ruling regarding the scope of the term “unsolicited advertisement” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).  In Katz v. Focus Forward, LLC, No. 21-1224-cv, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of the…

Read More

CFPB Files Complaint Against New York-Based Debt Collectors

​On January 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint​ against three New York-based debt collection companies and their owners.  The CFPB alleged the companies sold debts to collection companies that used unlawful collection tactics. Specifically, the CFPB alleged the companies knew or should have known that the…

Read More

Emory Law Journal Reports New Studies That Authors Claim Show Racial Inequities in Lender Advertisements

A new essay published in the Emory Law Journal argues that two empirical studies of advertising by certain banks and payday lenders in Houston, Texas indicate that payday lenders steer African Americans and Latinos to their products, while banks market primarily to white consumers.  The authors suggest that, consistent with…

Read More

OCC Head Provides Remarks on Bank Overdraft Practices

On December 8, 2021, the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael J. Hsu, gave remarks before the Consumer Federation of America’s 34th Annual Financial Services Conference where he expressed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) push for bank overdraft reform to benefit financially vulnerable consumers. Hsu opined…

Read More

CFPB Reaches $40.6 Million Agreement With Lender to Cease Operations

On December 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it reached an agreement with a California-based fintech company that would require the company to cease “(1) making new loans; (2) collecting on outstanding loans to harmed consumers; (3) selling consumer information; and (4) making misrepresentations when providing loans or collecting debt or helping…

Read More

California DFPI Reaches Agreement with Lender to Temporarily Halt Operations

​On December 14, 2021, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DPFI) announced that it entered what it described as a “novel” consent ​order with a Los Angeles-based automobile title loan lender prohibiting the company from marketing or servicing title loans under $10,000 with interest rates above 36 percent within the state of California for the next…

Read More

FTC Announces Settlement with Alleged Phantom Debt Collectors

On December 13, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) annou​nced that it reached a settlement with a group of ​South Carolina-based debt collection companies to resolve ​allegations that the companies violated the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The FTC’s complaint, originally filed in July…

Read More

District of Columbia AG Reaches $2 Million Settlement With Online Lender

On November 30, the District of Columbia Attorney General’s Office (DC AG) announced a settlement with an online lender targeting consumers with below-average credit, under which the lender agreed to pay $1.5 million in refunds to consumers and $250,000 to the District, and to waive over $640,000 in interest.  Further, the agreement obligates the lender to reduce its interest…

Read More

New York Governor Hochul Signs Consumer Credit Fairness Act, Creating Significant Changes for Debt Collection Actions Brought in the State

On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Consumer Credit Fairness Act (the Act) into law.  The Act will likely have substantial impact on debt collection lawsuits filed by creditors or debt collectors in New York.  The Act not only reduces the statute of limitations for filing…

Read More

CFPB, Banking Agencies, and State Regulators Warn of Increased Scrutiny on Mortgage Servicers

The CFPB, federal banking agencies, and state regulators are returning to pre-pandemic norms with respect to enforcement and supervision of the mortgage servicing industry.  On November 10, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union…

Read More

CFPB Files Complaint Against Pawnshop Lenders for Alleged Military Lending Act Violations

On November 12, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas against two pawnshop lenders, alleging violations of the Military Lending Act (MLA), 10 U.S.C. § 987.  Under the MLA, consumer credit extended to military servicemembers may…

Read More